There’s a story behind my latest book Ring Around Reality.Although published in May of 2017, I originally wrote this book in 1980 and put it on a shelf in my closet. Frankly, I was intimidated by the manuscript. You see, even though I made Ring Around Reality a work of fiction, the book is based on my own struggle with alcoholism. My fiction is close to the actual truth, and I knew my family would figure out who was who and would be impacted by some of the revelations. [Read More...]

Where have I been all this months? Working on a very special book for those who suspect they might be too old for love. Don’t believe it! Love came to me at a virtual bridge table in the form of an 80-year-old Southern gentleman from Texas. We have been corresponding for nearly three years now and are very, very close. [Read More...]

Yes, I have been successful! So far, I have lost 24 pounds! It has been easy to stick to my food program, which has surprised me. I’ve done dieting in the past and have been plagued with cravings and have given in to temptations presented me. You know the kind—“just take a taste of this—a little bit won’t hurt you.” This time, however, I seem to find the way to say a gracious “no” to my unwitting tempters. What’s my secret for all this success? A quiet confidence. [Read More...]

You may have read about my late spouse John Palmer in my book Living With the Stranger in Me: An Exploration of Aging. John was 23 years older than I, and was grieving the loss of Edna, his wife of 46 years, when he came to me, her cousin. [Read More...]

Loneliness is a killer. If not physically disabling, the awful silence in a house of one person threatens madness. No wonder lonely people watch so much television! Electronic voices fill the void and provide resistance to that flood of nothingness that perversely insists on attention. That feeling, my friends, is madness. [Read More...]

Something old is here bringing something new. The something old is I bringing newly created thoughts and insights to the Internet. (Yes, the English teacher in me compels the word “I,” not “me.”) [Read More...]